Trey Gowdy on Transgender Ban: Nobody Has Right to Serve in Military-Incorrect Attribution!

Trey Gowdy on Transgender Ban: Nobody Has Right to Serve in Military-Incorrect Attribution!

Trey Gowdy on Transgender Ban: Nobody Has Right to Serve in Military-Incorrect Attribution!

Summary of eRumor:
Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said "nobody has the right to serve in the military" in defense of the transgender military ban announced by President Trump in July 2017.The Truth:
Comments about transgender people serving in the military were incorrectly attributed to Trey Gowdy after President Trump announced a ban on transgender service members in July 2017.
The commentary in question defends President Trump's transgender military ban by stating that "nobody has the right to serve in the military." It then adds that people are turned away every day for being too fat, to skinny or too old, too tall or too short — implying that it's no different to be turned away for being transgender:

The Military has one job. War. Anything else is a distraction and a liability. Did someone just scream "That isn't Fair"? War is VERY unfair, there are no exceptions made for being special or challenged or socially wonderful. YOU change yourself to meet Military standards. Not the other way around.

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The confusion started when the commentary appeared an unofficial Trey Gowdy Facebook community page called "Trey Gowdy News and Support" without attribution on July 27, 2017. Links to videos and articles about Gowdy regularly appear on the page, and some of its 170,000 followers incorrectly assumed that the commentary on transgender service members came from Gowdy himself:
[caption id="attachment_105251" align="aligncenter" width="448"] Comments appearing at unofficial Trey Gowdy Facebook community page led some to believe that Gowdy defended President Trump's transgender military ban.[/caption]
The commentary appeared on social media sites and discussion forums days before it surfaced on the Trey Gowdy community page. We couldn't find an author listed on any of these posts, but one of its earliest appearances on Reddit attributed it to an unnamed "unofficial Air Force page."
After scouring news reports, we couldn't find any public comments or statements released by Trey Gowdy on the transgender military ban. Of course, that doesn't mean that he didn't make them, but we can definitively say that the statement that "nobody has a right to serve in the military" did not come from Gowdy..

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Collected on: 08/02/2017

Nobody has a “right” to serve in the Military. Nobody.
What makes people think the Military is an equal opportunity employer? Very far from it.
The Military uses prejudice regularly and consistently to deny citizens from joining for being too old or too young, too fat or too skinny, too tall or too short.
Citizens are denied for having flat feet, or for missing or additional fingers. Poor eyesight will disqualify you, as well as bad teeth. Malnourished? Drug addiction? Bad back? Criminal history? Low IQ? Anxiety? Phobias? Hearing damage? Six arms? Hear voices in your head? Self-identify as a Unicorn?
Need a special access ramp for your wheelchair? Can’t run the required course in the required time? Can’t do the required number of pushups?
Not really a “morning person” and refuse to get out of bed before noon?
All can be reasons for denial.
The Military has one job. War. Anything else is a distraction and a liability.
Did someone just scream “That isn’t Fair”? War is VERY unfair, there are no exceptions made for being special or challenged or socially wonderful.
YOU change yourself to meet Military standards. Not the other way around.
I say again: You don’t change the Military… you must change yourself.
The Military doesn’t need to accommodate anyone with special issues. The Military needs to Win Wars.
If any of your personal issues are a liability that detract from readiness or lethality… Thank you for applying and good luck in future endeavors. Who’s next in line?